One Little Book
by Little.Flame.Dancer
Summary: They rule her life now, she can't do anything or they will hurt her. She wished she had never found that one little book. That one little book ruined her life. PLEASE R&R! My first Story!
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Lily wandered the local library casually looking at the books on the shelves. She had read almost all of the books as the library was only small; however she was sure there must be at least one more she could read. Reading had become her only source of normality since her dad had pulled her out of school to travel the world. He was a historian and was always looking for new ruins. They had been living in a small town in Italy for about a month now and her dad had found many ruins so he was hardly ever around.

The librarian smiled at her as lily turned the corner to look up the other isle. With no school and no friends to talk too, Lily spent most of the time hidden in the far corner of the library and the librarian had come accustom to seeing her. Lily carried on looking for a book, stroking the biddings as she walked past; she loved the feel of leather and paper biddings holding all the books secrets inside. She jumped as the librarian coughed loudly, and her hand knocked a book to the floor, she bent down to pick it up and read the cover. She had never read this book so picked it up to read the blurb inside, but it had faded, slowly she carried it to the front desk. The librarian checked it out without looking at her; she pushed it across the desk towards her and turned around. That's odd, thought Lily, normally she says something about the book, obviously not one of her favourites.

Lily walked out of the library tucking the book under her coat, as she walked down the steps two men in black jackets ran up the steps and pushed her out of the way. Lily sighed but walked on she didn't want an argument especially with men like them. She walked towards the bus stop as the bus pulled up; she jumped on and paid the fare, she took a seat by the window at the back of the bus. Lily watched as the two men stormed out of the library again, looked either way then darted of towards the centre of town, obviously couldn't find the book they wanted, lily thought.

The bus pulled up at the end of Lily's road. She jumped off and slowly walked down the road, thinking about the strange black clad men. The road was almost deserted except for three parked cars. Lily turned up her drive and walked towards the little cottage that had lately become her home, the garden was a mess and the drive was cracked and full of pot holes. Her dad had taken their little car up to his latest ruin sight so the drive was empty. She unlocked the door and stepped inside; she quietly shut the door and made her way towards the back of the house. She placed her book on the kitchen table and bent down to light the little fire. She curled up in the armchair at the end of the kitchen, and opened the cover of the book. The picture on the inside of the cover showed a little creature with horns looking over the title, Inkheart. How cute, Lily thought, it is just like a martin.

The day turned to night and Lily kept reading, being drawn further and further into the dark world of Inkheart. The door banged and Lily jumped dropping the book on the floor. 'Lily' her dad called 'I'm home'. They sat down and ate their tea, talking about the day's events. At nine o clock Lily put her plate in the sink and walked out of the kitchen.

"Going to bed already?" her dad called after her,

"yeah I want to read" Lily called over her shoulder.

She walked up the stairs and entered her small pokey bedroom; she shut the door, turned on her lamp, sat on the bed, pulled the covers up and grabbed Inkheart. She delved deep into the world of Inkheart, following the amazing adventures of Dustfinger and Basta; she heard footsteps on the stairs and quickly looked at the time. It was midnight. Lily placed the book on her bedside table and turned off her lamp; she buried deep into the covers and fell asleep.

That night she dreamt of Basta and the horror of Capricorn. She woke with a start as Basta's knife came towards her. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, the clock showed 5 o clock and the gentle rain could be heard on the window. She turned around and switched her lamp on throwing weird shadows up on the dirty cream walls. Lily shook her head and was soon asleep again


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Her bedroom door slowly opened and Lily woke up and sat bolt upright. Her dad walked in sheepishly, "honey, I am really sorry but I had a text from the guys at work, they found some old ruins and they want to check them out today. Is that ok?"

Lily smiled and nodded, "that's fine, I don't mind, have a good time, hope it all goes well." She sat up and swung her legs out of bed, grabbing her dressing gown she made her way down stairs to see her dad packing a bag. He kissed her on the head as he headed for the door "bye honey, see you when I get back". She listened as the car pulled away, for the 8th day in a row Lily was left alone with her thoughts and fears.

About 10 o clock Lily placed the book, her phone and some biscuits in a bag and set off towards the town. She locked the front door and made her way down the road; she sat down at the bus stop and waited for the next bus. After 10 minutes the bus pulled up, Lily jumped on and smiled at the driver, his name was Michael and he had been the first person to talk to her when she moved to the town. "Moring Lily, nice morning isn't it, off to the town?" He asked as she paid the fare.

"Hi Michael, yeah it is, and yeah going to get some cake for lunch and may stop off in the library." She replied, smiling at him.

"I could have guessed" Michael joked.

Lily smiled and took her seat at the front of the bus and watched as the mountainous country side rushed past the window, soon fir trees where replaced by houses and the town came into view. The bus stopped by the library and Lily jumped off, she headed straight for the library. She walked up the steps and pushed open the door and pure horror lay in front of her.

Books lay scattered on the floor, shelves were splintered were they stood, and the librarian lay in a crumpled heap in the middle of her broken books. Lily ran forward and placed a hand on the molly, the librarians, shoulder. Molly jumped and whirled round with an expression of frightened panic. She sighed as she saw Lily's pale face.

"What happened" Lily asked helping Molly to her feet.

"They came in yesterday looking for a book, I told them it was gone and they left, but that night they came back and destroyed everything looking for that book. I tried to stop them but one had a knife and I…"

"Who, who did it" Lily persisted

"They were in black jackets and one was called Flatnose and the other was called Basta".


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Lily called the police and made Molly a cup of tea. Then went and sat in her corner looking at the broken books that used to be her source of comfort but now, held dark mystery's that Lily needed to know the answer to.

The police arrived and took Molly to the station leaving Lily alone in her destroyed haven. After about half an hour Molly stood and wandered towards the desk, she saw a book open on the counter top; in it were all the names and addresses of all the people who had taken out books and the name of the book. The town was too small to have computer. A stab mark had been placed in the book next to the last entry and Lily's heart sank. She raced from the library towards the local police station.

She reached the police station ten minutes later and very out of breath, she burst through the door and looked around the empty entry hall trying to find the way Molly went. She burst through the first door and saw Molly sat on a chair with another mug of tea. She ran forward and stood in front of Molly.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"tell you what" Molly asked, a bit taken aback by Lily's tone

"That they were after the book I have, Inkheart," Lily said, exasperated.

"Oh, I suppose I didn't think it was relevant" she replied, looking a bit worried,

Lily's anger built in her chest, but she controlled it, getting angry wasn't going to help her now, thinking was.

"It's ok, I was just a bit worried" lily replied a calmly as she could manage, "I better get off home, dad will be home soon."

Lily walked slowly out of the station, with the image of Basta's knife coming closer and closer and this time she couldn't wake up.

Lily made it home and ran down the road towards the house; she turned up the drive and stopped.

Nothing had changed. She walked slowly across the weed ridden garden; she unlocked the door and slowly walked in. The hall way was clean and tidy with the books neatly stacked in the shelves; Lily placed her bag on the floor and took out Inkheart, she had forgotten she had taken it with her. She tried to throw it on the floor but she couldn't hurt a book, enough had been damaged today.

She walked upstairs to her bedroom and sat heavily on her bed, the book felt like a lead weight in her hand. She opened the book and carried on reading but the story no longer seemed like fun, it seemed far too real. She placed the book down and walked towards the window, it looked out of the back garden which was a real mess. She turned and stormed out of her bedroom.

She spent the rest of the day watching television, reading other books and generally keeping her mind busy. At nine o clock that night the phone rang, Lily jumped up and answered, it was her dad.

After a quick chat, Lily put the phone down. Her dad wouldn't be home again, she was still alone and would be until tomorrow morning. She turned off all the lights down stairs and trudged upstairs to bed. She didn't bother with a shower and got straight into bed; she put Inkheart on top of her table then shoved it in the top draw not wanting to even look at the book. She turned over and shut her eyes, she was soon asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

The front door banged open and Lily woke up suddenly, she lay there listening trying to work out who it was. After a few minutes and with no other sounds Lily got out of bed, pulled her large hoodie on and crept out of her room. She stood at the top of the stairs and looked out of the open front door. She heard voices coming from the kitchen and then a crash; she jumped and ducked behind the landing railings hoping that no one would come looking for her. As the shouting and arguing continued, Lily crept down the stairs towards the phone planning on calling the police. She reached the bottom of the stairs and peered round the corner; the kitchen door stood ajar and Lily could see a chair laid on the floor. She crept forward and reached for the phone, but her hand froze before she was even close as a voice rang out from the kitchen.

"Flatnose, what are you doing, you idiot, we are looking for the book not something to eat" a voice hissed, as if he was scolding a child.

"What are you exactly doing Basta, because you seemed to be just sat there" the voice of Flatnose retaliated,

"Shut your mouth, before I cut it from your ugly mug" Basta threatened.

Lily's heart ran cold as she heard the names, they were here, in her house and they were looking for Inkheart. Before she could stop herself she let out a little squeak. Everything in the kitchen fell silent and she heard a chair being pushed back across the tiled floor. Lily jumped up and ran up the stairs no longer caring how much noise she made.

Heavy footsteps came up the hall way then followed her up the stairs, "oi, stop" Flatnose shouted. Lily carried on running; she darted into her room and grabbed the book and shoved it into her jumper pocket she also put her raincoat in as well to hide the shape of the book, finally she through open the window. The door flew open and two burly men stood looking at her, the tallest ran forward as Lily swung her second leg out of the window.

He pulled her roughly by her waist back in to the room, he pushed her backwards into the arms of the waiting man. The man who caught her pulled one of her arms around her back; he then pulled something out of his pocket and placed it by her throat. Lily's world froze, she couldn't hear and all she could feel was the ice cold metal against her throat. Slowly her hearing returned and then everything began to move at twice the speed, the man who was holding her, Lily assumed was Basta and the tall man had a flat nose which explained his name. She was cruelly shoved on to her bed and had to watch as Flatnose and Basta turned her room upside down, looking for the book that was pressing into her stomach.

Lily desperately looked around for something to help her escape or a least leave a note for her father. On the side of her table there was a book, she slowly leaned over and pulled it onto the bed, she froze as Flatnose walked over to her wardrobe. However he didn't look up so Lily began to move again. On the floor was a pink pen she used for her diary, slowly leaning down she grabbed the pen and sat back up on the bed, the two thugs carried on destroying her things. Lily opened the book and took the lid of the pen, swallowing the horror that was building in her stomach, Lily began to write.

'Basta and Flatnose, I don't know what will happen, Hel….'

However Lily did not get to finish the message because Basta grabbed her arm and dragged her around to face him. He slapped her across the face with the back of his hand; Lily let out of cry of shock and pain and placed a hand on her red cheek.

"Very clever, little one" Basta crooned, "but don't even think about trying something like that again, or I won't be so nice next time.' He grabbed the book and ripped out the handwritten note and threw it in the bin. Leaving the torn book open on Lily's bed.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Lily wedged herself as far away from Flatnose as they sat in the back of the car. She pressed herself against the window and hid her tears from the cruel men who had imprisoned her and now who kidnapped her.

After destroying her house, Basta had dragged Lily to a black car that was parked at the end of the drive. He had thrown her inside and ordered Flatnose to sit with her and keep an eye on her. He had then sat in the front and driven off quickly.

They had been driving for about an hour and during that time Flatnose and slowed got closer and closer to Lily. He was now touching Lily's side and she could feel his hot breath on her neck, his hand was touching her leg and she could feel it slowly moving to lie on her leg. As he shuffled slightly closer again, Lily snapped.

"Get away from me you… bastard" Lily shouted, though her voice wavered and didn't come out as strong as she would have liked.

Flatnose grabbed her arm and pulled her close to his face, "now, now darling, don't push me" he crooned. Lily pushed him away with all her force but could not move very fast as the window was pressed on her back.

"Flatnose, get away from her and you girl watch your tone or you could find my knife to close for your liking" Basta's voice cut the tension like a knife and both Flatnose and Lily quickly fell silent. Flatnose moved away from her and mumbled under his breath about Basta not being in charge.

The journey continued in silence, Lily's legs began to cramp and she drifted in and out of sleep. The sun was high in the sky when the car stopped, the door was opened and Lily was dragged out into a large car park.

The town that lay in front of her resembled a medieval village, a large church spire stood above the rest of the town and Lily could make out a man stood in the area where the bell was kept. On the either side of the village lay deserted and ruined houses and lily couldn't help but think that her dad would love this village. She walked forward guided by Basta's knife in her back; Flatnose strode in front of the two of them, clearing a path between other black jackets and rumble.

She was walked into a large square. Big houses lined the sides of the square, black jackets stood in the doors watching the small processions. Lily could feel there beetle like eyes watching her as she was marched towards the large doors of the church. Flatnose threw open the doors and walked on in, Basta pushed Lily in with a small growl.

The church was completely covered in red. "The blood of Capricorns victim's painted this church" Basta whispered in her ear, he then chuckled as he felt Lily shiver. She walked on, passing a large statue of a creepy looking man; she was given one large shove forward and pushed to the floor in front of some stones steps. Looking up, her eyes met the silver eyes of a man who sat in a large throne.

"Who is our guest Basta?" the silver eyed man whispered,

"My lord this is the girl who last had the book" Basta replied not looking up,

"How interesting" he replied


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Lily stared at her feet as the two men talked over her head. She did not hear most of the conversation as she was thinking of her poor dad and how he must feel, if he knew she was missing a little voice said. At a sharp jab in her back Lily looked up, Capricorn was staring at her and Lily found her tongue heavy, slowly she spoke.

"I'm sorry what did you say" Lily whispered, fearing what would happen to her for her ignorance. Capricorns eyes narrowed and he stepped forward so he was right in front of her and looked down at her with piercing eyes.

"Where is the book?" he replied.

"I don't know" Lily voice shook as she told the lie; she had to physically keep her hands from touching the book in her pocket. She had never been a very good liar and Lily dropped her eyes to keep them from giving her away. Capricorn placed a hand under her chin and raised her eyes to his.

"You are lying girl, and I don't like liars" Capricorn snarled, "search her" he roared, causing Lily to jump out of her skin. Basta sniggered behind her and Lily felt her cheeks go red.

She was pushed backwards by Capricorn and Flatnose stepped in just in time to catch her. Basta came round the front and with an evil glint in his eye began to pat down her clothes. As he came near her pocket Lily began to panic and said the first thing that came into her mind. "I wouldn't go in that pocket" she said, Basta smirked and went to place a hand in her pocket, "It's my time of the month" Lily blurted. Basta pulled away and looked sheepishly back at Capricorn, who sighed at sat back in his chair waving Basta away with one hand. He stared at Lily for a long time then beckoned her forward; she was given a _helpful_ push forward by Flatnose and landed on her knees hallway up the small set of stairs. She went to stand but she found a foot pressed on her hand, preventing her from getting up.

"You will work for me now, until you tell me where the book is" Capricorn told her, he stepped off her hand, turned, sat on his chair and waved her away.

She was pushed into a room that looked like a kitchen, two girls looked up and quickly dropped their eye lines as they saw Basta come through the door way. Lily heard him chuckle as he saw their fearful reactions, he pushed Lily into the corner and walked forward. "You girl out" Basta ordered to the girl by the cooker, she quickly scurried out and didn't look back. The girl left in the kitchen looked up as Basta walked forward; he grabbed the girls arm and shoved her against the wall.

Lily let out a little squeak but quickly fell silent as Basta growled. Lily watched in horror as the girl tried to get out from Basta's grip but she held her against the wall. He kissed the girl furiously and grabbed her breast, the girl had given up fighting and just seemed to wait till he had finished. Basta pulled away and smiled nastily at the girl.

"Kate, I missed you "he crooned, walking over to Lily again,

"I can't say I really missed you" Kate replied watching Basta. This got a growl in response but he was obviously used to the back chat.

"Well I have brought a friend for you" at this he shoved Lily towards Kate "train her up, but don't give her any of your attitude" Basta added in. He smirked, turned and walked out of the room.

Lily looked at her feet unsure of what to do; she didn't know what to say. "Hi there" Kate said looking sympathetically at Lily.

"Hi" Lily whispered,

"It must seem really scary, it did when I moved here first, though it is ok if you know what to do and who to avoid." Kate said, she bent down and picked up a broom and handed it to Lily, who had slowly looked up as Kate was talking. "I will tell you what to do and you can sleep in my dormitory, so start by sweeping the floor, Shannon was supposed to be doing but Basta scared her off when you first came in."

Lily smiled and began to sweep the floor, "you are not scared of Basta though" Lily said, watching Kate cook something on the stove.

"No, I have been here for about four years, he has hurt me in every way possible, he doesn't scare me anymore." Kate replied quietly placing a hand on her arm as if protecting herself from Basta's knife.

"How old are you?" Lily asked, shocked,

"16, I have been here since I was twelve, my dad borrowed some money from the Black jackets but before he could pay it back both of my parents were killed in an accident. I couldn't pay back the money so they took me here as compensation." Kate replied, answering Lily's next question before she even asked it.

Lily looked horrified, but a shrill, croaky voice soon broke her gaze.

"Quick work, the magpie's coming."


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Ten o clock that night Lily fell into bed, she was exhausted, she had been cleaning, cooking and generally keeping out of the black jackets way all day. Kate had taught her how to avoid the men and get her jobs done as quickly as possible.

She had been introduced to the magpie, the old lady had frightened the life out her and Lily had decided that she would never intentionally get on the wrong side of the magpie.

She was sharing a room with Kate and Shannon, the light had been turned off and Lily could hear deep breathing so she assumed the two other girls were asleep. She reached down under her bed and pulled out her old hoody, she reached into the pocket and pulled out Inkheart, she placed it on the bed and quietly searched the draws next to her bed for a torch. The torch light from the bed opposite shined on Lily's startled face, the torch light came closer to Lily's bed and she saw that Kate was the one holding the torch, Lily sighed in relief.

Kate sat on the bed and picked up Inkheart, "isn't this the book that Capricorns men are looking for? Is this the reason they raided your house and took you away?" she questioned.

"Yes, please don't tell anyone it is here, I will be in so much trouble if you do" Lily quickly answered,

"I want I promise" Kate answered "Hide it somewhere though, they don't often come into the rooms but just in case".

"Where can I hide it though?" Lily asked, scanning the dark room,

"Put it in your pillowcase, we have to wash our own bedding so no one will find it there" Kate offered, Lily quickly undid the buttons on her pillow case, put Inkheart inside and shut up the pillow case. She turned and faced Kate and before she could stop herself a tear crept down her cheek, followed by more and more. Kate pulled Lily into a hug and held her there until she had stopped crying.

"Sorry" Lily sobbed, "things have changed so much from last night",

"I know, go to sleep and you will feel better in the morning" Kate soothed. Lily snuggled into the scratchy cover and watched as Kate walked back to her bed and turned off the torch.

The morning came and Lily was woken by Kate shaking her shoulder, she slowly awoke and got out of bed, she pulled on her 'uniform' and followed Kate and Shannon out of the room and down stairs to the kitchen.

They stood at the back of a large crowd of girls who were being assigned tasks by the magpie. "You girl, you are to wash the men's clothing" she ordered pointing at Lily. The other girls were ordered off and Kate led Lily outside into the square, they stood in the bright sunshine and looked about the quiet square.

"I need to cook for the black jackets today, so I won't be able to help you, but I can give you a few pointers: first, the dirty clothes will be in a wicker basket in the bedrooms. Second, knock before entering the house and the bedrooms. Thirdly, there is a basket round the back there and the line to hang the clothes on when you have watched them and finally don't speak unless you are spoken to" Kate instructed "If you are really stuck come and see me and I will help you, but it has to be really important." Lily nodded and watched as Kate ran back to the large house next to the red temple.

Lily went round the side of one of the other houses and found a small walled garden, under the washing line was a large basket; she picked it up and headed round the front of the houses.

She knocked on the front door, waited and entered.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

She walked into the dark house and looked around at the sparse furniture, she saw the stairs and walked up towards them, she quietly climbed the stairs and saw a door to the left. She knocked quietly, and I voice answered that made Lily's heart freeze.

She entered and bowed her head, hoping the person would not recognise her; she looked to the left and saw the wicker basket and quickly walked towards it. She opened it and put all the clothes in the basket she was carrying she turned quickly to leave but her path was blocked by someone standing in her way. She tried to step around the body but the person moved into her path again, slowly Lily raised her eyes and looked into the black, lust filled eyes of Basta.

He knocked the basket out of her hands and Lily let out a little squeak, Basta sniggered and stepped closer to her.

"Well hello there my little one, how nice of you to come to my bedroom and to think, I thought I was going to have to force you here." Basta drawled, pushing a strand of her dark brown hair behind her ear, Lily tried to step back but Basta grabbed her arm and held her painfully in place.

"Let go" Lily squeaked, trying desperately trying to get out from Basta's excruciating grip,

"oh no you are not getting away from me you little slut" Basta growled throwing Lily onto the floor next to him, he bent down and pulled her up by her hair and pushed her backwards onto his bed.

Lily struggled as Basta forced himself on top of her; Lily panicked and slapped Basta across the face. He jumped of her and stared at her with black eyes. "You bitch" he snarled. Turning, he walked to his wardrobe, if Lily had been thinking straight she could have escaped but she was in such shock that she stayed laid on Basta's bed watching him. Out of his wardrobe Basta pulled several items that Lily could not see, he turned and walked towards the petrified Lily. He let two pieces of rope dangle from his hand; he smirked at Lily and quickly grabbed her wrist. He tied it roughly and tightly to the bed post then went round the other side and did the same to her other wrist.

Lily struggled and tried to get out of the bindings but she was tied up tight, Basta watched with a sadistic grin and Lily writhing body. Without warning he jammed a leather gag into Lily's mouth to stop her screaming. He then knelt over her and ripped off the dress she was wearing to leave her laid in her underwear. His eyed filled with her lust as he looked at her breasts; she was sixteen so they were pretty good. Basta placed two hands under her back and placed a kiss on her lips as he undid her bra strap, Lily tried to get out of the way but her bindings were keep her in place.

Basta pulled off her bra and threw it across the room, he sat back and stared as her breasts, he placed his hands down and began to squeeze and stroke them. He lent forward and began to kiss her neck and lips whilst still fondling her breasts, Lily let tears fall down her cheeks as she couldn't get away from Basta.

After several minutes Basta sat up again and flicked out his knife, Lily froze and her eyes obviously gave her fear as Basta laughed. He placed the knife under the strap of her thong and snapped the strap; he slowly pulled them away and looked hungrily down at her flower. Lily felt sick and she closed her eyes as not to see Basta's look.

Basta placed her hand onto her flower and began to stroke her, Lily squirmed and tried to think of other things but she couldn't mistake the feeling of Basta's hands. Suddenly it stopped and Lily opened her eyes, Basta began to undress himself and Lily saw the bulge in Basta's pants grow and he undid his jacket and shirt. Soon he undid his trousers and stood at the end of the bed in just his boxers, he dropped them to the floor and his hardness was in front of Lily. Her eyes bulged, it was huge, Basta got onto the bed and raised Lily's legs into the air.

Lily screamed against the gag and Basta shoved his hardness into her, he thrusted back and forward, causing the pain to shot through Lily's entire body. She froze like a rabbit and tried not to look at Basta's face as he pleasured himself deep inside her, it seemed to last forever but finally Basta came inside her. He pulled out and stood slowly up and got dressed.

Blood trickled down Lily's leg staining the sheets on which she was laid, tears fell silently down her face and she couldn't move. Basta got dressed without speaking; he turned and smirked at the mess Lily was in. He walked forward and Lily's whole body tensed, he can't do it again her thoughts screamed, he flicked out his knife and her heart had a new fear.

"Please don't kill me" Lily whispered "I'll do anything".

Basta smirked and cut her bindings around her wrists, "don't give me ideas, you little slut" he chuckled, "get out and don't speak to anyone about this, if you do next time I may take your suggestion". Lily slowly stood up and moved stiffly off the bed, Basta gave a frustrated growl and pushed her onto the floor. Lily grabbed her clothes and pulled them on whilst still laid on the floor. She picked herself up and grabbed the basket she had originally brought in, and went to go out of the door.

"I know you know where the book is" Basta said as she went to the leave this hell hole, "and I will get it from you."


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Lily collected the rest of the washing and like a robot she did her job, other black jackets made passes at her and a few even touched her but Lily felt nothing now, she was an empty shell. The evening came and Lily walked slowly back to the house, she entered and slowly went towards the kitchen. She could her singing and as she entered the warm, almost homely kitchen she saw it was Kate, finally her mind and heart cracked and Lily collapsed to the floor.

Loud sobs racked her whole body; Kate spun round and dropped to the floor next to her and held her hand. Over and over again Kate asked her what was wrong but Lily couldn't bring herself to speak, after about 15 minutes Lily slowly raised the hem of her dress to reveal the dried blood on her legs. Kate gasped and held Lily's head in her hands, "shh, it's ok, he did it to me too, the pain will go soon."

Kate picked up Lily and they began to walk slowly out of the house, Lily's world was a blur and she wasn't sure where she was going but she lent on Kate and followed her. They stopped outside of a door and Lily shut her eyes tight, she was so tired, Kate thumped on the door in front of them.

The door opened and Basta stood in front of her, Lily's knees felt weak and she thought she was going to be sick. Basta's stood back and the two girls walked in, Lily was placed on the sofa and Kate turned to confront Basta.

"You bastard" she shouted "how could you? What sort of a monster are you?

"What the matter my princess, don't like having to share me with another" Basta retorted, smirking at the furious Kate,

"Why did you have to kill her soul as well, isn't it enough for you to have broken everyone else's, don't you think that she has had a bad enough week as it is?" Kate shouted, ignoring Basta's last comment.

"It would have happened soon enough, she was lucky it was me and not any of the others" Basta grumbled, obviously not used to being shouted at, "I am much better than Flatnose" he joked.

"NO" lily roared, "you are just as bad as the others, actually in fact I think you worse! All of this for one book; the book isn't even that special it looks like any ordinary book" Lily shouted.

Basta's eyes narrowed and he menacingly stepped forward, he grabbed Kate by the neck and glared straight into her eyes. "Take it back" he growled, "Take it back now or you are going to regret it."

"You can't hurt me anymore" Kate spat, "so do your worse, you bastard",

Basta went to slap Kate but something changed in his eyes, he let her go and turned around, "get out and take that little slut with you" he said quietly. Kate stood very confused but turned and helped Lily up, they walked slowly out of the door and Kate slammed the door behind her.

They walked back towards the house, neither of them spoke, Lily through unhappiness and Kate through confusion. Basta hadn't hit her, he had stopped, he had never stopped before, something was wrong but Kate couldn't think of what it was.

Lily was helped into bed, her head, her legs and her heart ached, she hated it here, she hated this life. She shut her eyes and slept, tomorrow could not be any worse, she thought.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Lily lay in bed with her eyes shut; she felt the sunlight on her eyelids and listened to two blackbirds singing outside the open window, a gentle breeze caused the shutters to occasionally tap the wall. She could almost believe she was at home tucked up in her cosy bed in her little room. Someone gently tapped her shoulder and Lily opened her eyes to stare into the face of Shannon.

"It's time to get up" the little girl whispered, "todays laundry day, so grab your bedding and we can go down together"

Lily nodded and slowly got up she pulled on her dress, she looked at Kate's stripped bed and wondered where she had got to. She picked up her pillow and felt Inkheart fall to the bottom of the pillow case, Lily panicked, where could she put the book? Lily looked at her dress and the apron pocket in the front. With a quick check to see if anyone was looking Lily slipped the book into the pocket, but it showed up to much so Lily put a small hand towel in there as well to hide the shape of the book.

"Are you ready?" Shannon called; Lily picked up her bedding and followed the girl out of the door.

The stood in silenced and watched as their bedding spun around and around in the old washing machine. Finally the cycle stopped and Lily stepped forward to help Shannon pull the soaking, woollen bedding from the washing machine. Shannon smiled and grabbed a basket which the laundry was placed into. They stepped out of a small door and into a high walled garden; it reminded Lily of a prison garden, there was a small clothes line which Shannon had begun to hang the washing on.

Together the soon finished hanging the washing out and then they had some spare time until the washing dried. Shannon disappeared out of the garden and left Lily alone, she went and sat in a sunny corner of the garden and shut her eyes. Time slowly drifted by in Lily's dark but strangely warm world, she thought about her dad. A tear crept down her cheek and out of her world, it quickly dried and vanished like Lily's soul had in that outside world.

Voices reached Lily's ears and she opened her eyes to see who it was, two black jackets walked into the garden and into the house, they didn't see Lily so she relaxed again. She stood up though and checked the washing, it was dry so Lily picked it in and placed it in the basket. She had a look around for Shannon but couldn't see her so decided to take the bedding in and remake the beds.

She slowly walked up the stairs and pushed open her bedroom door. The room was completely trashed, beds were upturned and the mattresses and pillows were torn and stuffing lay across the floor. Lily couldn't believe her eyes, she picked up her mattress and pulled up her metal frame she put her mattress back on it. She tidied the entire room and remade the beds, she acted like a robot, her mind was whirling through confusion and hurt. This was her safe place and they had broken it like they had broken her life. She sat on the bed and pulled Inkheart out of her pocket, she put it back into the pillow and sighed, all of her troubles were caused by this one book, surely she should just give it in.

The door flew open and Basta stood in the door way, holding a single length of rope. Lily body ran cold and her heart stopped with fear, she shrank away from the advancing figure. He chuckled as he grabbed her up from the bed, "don't worry my little slut, this isn't for me this is for Capricorn!" Lily's knees almost gave away as Basta tied her hands behind her back and pushed her out of the door.

She was pushed into the red temple and up the aisle, Basta quietly hummed the wedding march and Lily shuddered. She was pushed onto the floor in front of the small steps and looked up into the icy grey eyes of Capricorn.

"Where is the book?" Capricorn shouted at Lily, "I know you have it."

Lily stayed silent and looked at the floor; she didn't want to speak just in case her voice trembled. A hand pulled her chin sharply up to look straight into the grey eyes of her capture; he pulled her closer so her nose was only a centimetre from his.

"Don't lie to me" He snarled at her,

"you can't hurt me" Lily whispered trying to find Kate's courage.

Capricorn turned and walked away, laughing quietly to himself. "No I won't hurt you but…" he paused here for dramatic effect and waved in someone who was standing behind a pillar "but I can hurt your friend."


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

Kate's face was covered in blood and there were bruises across her arms and up her legs, her eyes were dull and she didn't look up even when Lily gasped. Tears rolled down the two girls cheeks as they stood in the red temple either side of Capricorn.

"So, where is the book?" Capricorn asked, turning with a smile to Lily. She stuttered but couldn't bring herself to answer, Capricorn sighed and clicked his fingers; Flatnose walked forward and slapped Kate hard across face. Lily let out a squeak and tears fell faster down her face, Kate cried silently and looked away from Lily.

"Try again" Capricorn cooed, taking a step towards Lily glaring at her, "only two tries left" he said holding two fingers up.

"Um… I" Lily stuttered, Capricorn clicked again but Lily shouted and stopped him, "I will tell you" she sobbed hoping to save Kate from another slap. Capricorn smiled and turned towards Lily.

"Come on then speak" he whispered,

"It's in my pillowcase" she said not looking up. Basta stepped forward, and spoke softly in to Capricorns ear, Capricorn nodded and turned to glare and Lily, he motioned at Flatnose and Flatnose punched Kate in the face.

"No" Lily shouted, "I told you where it was" She wanted to stop the tears, she wanted to be brave.

"I know that the pillowcase had already been searched, so where is it?" Capricorn shouted, he glared at Lily trying to make her answer,

"check again" Lily sobbed "it is there I promise, just stop hurting her."

Capricorn signalled to two black jackets who quickly left the room, "every minute they are away, she will get hurt, and if the book isn't there I will kill her" he threatened pulling a large dagger from his belt and running his finger along the blade.

Minutes ticked by and every time it happened Kate was slapped, punched and kicked. Finally the two men walked back in and one of them held the book, Capricorn smiled and took the book, he flicked through the pages and grinned. He flicked his hand and a guard took Kate away, Lily was pulled away by Basta to leave Capricorn alone with the book.

She was pushed back into her room and the ropes around her wrists undone; Kate was already laid on her bed, sobbing silently. Lily rushed forward and cuddled up to Kate, how could they do this? How could they break her spirit like this?"

Lily shut her eyes and cried, this was her life now, all she could do was keep her head down and get on with life. If they could kill the spirit of the strongest girl she ever knew, they would crush her like a paper cup.

This was her life now.

…..

**I am unsure whether this has been finished or whether to carry on! Any comments would be appreciated but please don't be too mean! **

**Thank you**

**xx**


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